LANCASTER, Pa. — A Lancaster County man will serve up to 24 years in prison after pleading guilty to repeatedly raping and sexually assaulting three young girls over the course of a decade, prosecutors said Friday.
Amos Ebersol, 60, of West Earl Township, submitted the guilty plea at a hearing Friday before Lancaster County Judge David Ashworth, who called Ebersol's actions "totally and completely unacceptable" before accepting the plea.
Ashworth then sentenced Ebersol to a prison term of 12-to 24-years.
Ashworth said Ebersol never once thought of the victims while pursuing his "selfish desires and interests," and added the "horrendous nature" of Ebersole's actions impacted his family and community.
When asked by the court if he wished to make a statement, Ebersol said he was unsure what he could say. He wiped tears away with a red handkerchief before being handcuffed and led from the courtroom to begin his sentence, according to a press release from the Lancaster County District Attorney's Office.
Ashworth said he accepted the plea in part to spare Ebersol’s victims from being “revictimized” by having to recount their experiences in trial.
Assistant District Attorney Steve Sess, who prosecuted the case, said the three victims “want to put this in their past and move on with their lives.”
Ebersol raped and assaulted the girls at his residence and barn in the 500 block of South Fairmont Road between 2006 and 2020, prosecutors said.
Ephrata police began investigating the case in October 2022 after a Children and Youth report stated Ebersol had inappropriately touched a juvenile victim.
